A Justice Department effort to deploy a nationwide and interoperable wireless network for federal law enforcement agencies faces the likelihood of cancellation.

The Integrated Wireless Network, part of the DOJ's Law Enforcement Wireless Communication account, is one of a list of programs (.pdf) set for termination in fiscal 2012 under the Obama administration's proposed budget. The prime contractor is General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), which won the IWN contract in April 2007 after a protracted showdown with Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).

The Justice Department can rely on commercial 3G or Long Term Evolution wireless infrastructure, say White House officials--a position that's historically been rejected by public safety, who generally doubt the private sector's ability to restore damaged infrastructure during severe emergencies. IWN proponents also point to the routing mechanisms built into the system meant to tolerate the failure of some transmission towers.

White House officials also say that federal law enforcement agencies could use the communication platforms of other federal, state or local agencies, also an unpopular argument among law enforcement agents, who often must resort to manually adjusting their radios when moving from one area covered by a particular transmission system to another area. IWN would make that handoff automatic and is intended for use by the DOJ, as well as law enforcement bureaus within the Treasury and Interior departments.

Interoperability between those agencies sometimes is still a matter of physically swapping radio devices. An attempt to jointly manage IWN with the Homeland Security Department fell apart in 2006.

The fiscal 2012 budget proposal requests $102.8 million for the Justice wireless communications account, which would go mostly toward maintaining legacy infrastructure, which is aging, often past the point of being supported by the manufacturer. A 2007 Justice inspector general report critical of the project's management found that a failure to upgrade DOJ radios, with or without IWN, "would represent an unnecessary risk to the safety of DOJ law enforcement officers and agents."

Failure of IWN would also represent "a significant missed opportunity to achieve needed communications interoperability between federal law enforcement agencies, and cost and spectrum efficiencies," the report added. Auditors said that IWN would cost Justice $2.1 billion through 2021, though some reported inpedendent estimates appraise its cost as several times that. Proponents say that by building out IWN and not maintaining the current infrastructure, Justice would create a cost avoidance of $2.5 billion.  

Justice officials asked for $205 million in fiscal 2012 appropriations in order to continue with IWN's rollout, according to an unconfirmed background source, but the Office of Management and Budget denied the entreaty.

Justice officials accepted Jan. 31 the first delivery of IWN infrastructure from General Dynamics, making the interoperable wireless network active within metro Washington D.C. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Park Police are the first agencies being migrated onto the IWN system; by January 2012, other DOJ agencies and Treasury Agents should also complete their migration, such that about 3,500 are able to use the system.

The program is also within the crosshairs of House Republicans, who want to reduce IWN account to $136.14 million, about a 35 percent reduction against the fiscal 2010 appropriated level of $206.1 million.

Background sources say the program needs $50 million during the current fiscal year to finish a deployment that would extend IWN to Baltimore and Richmond, Va. and $10 million to begin deployment along the southwest border. In fiscal 2012, the program wants $40 million to complete IWN in Detroit, $20 million to continue along the Mexican border and $40 million to design and build the network in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the senior Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee and a long-time IWN supporter, released a statement to FierceGovernmentIT criticizing the proposed cuts.

"Delaying the build-out of this critical interoperable system will hamper the ability of federal, state, and local law enforcement to adequately communicate and respond in the event of an emergency or large-scale disaster," he said.

For more:
- download the fiscal 2012 proposed terminations, reductions and savings budget document (.pdf)
- download an April DOJ report on IWN sent to Congress that was obtained by FierceGovernmentIT (.pdf)

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